CDC tests thousands of ticks at Meramec State Park

Jul. 20, 2017

SULLIVAN, Mo. (AP) — Thousands of ticks have been collected for testing from a Missouri park after a worker died of complications from the tick-borne Bourbon virus.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the results from the tick testing won't be available for several months.

The testing comes after 58-year-old Tamela Wilson died last month. She had worked as the assistant superintendent of Meramec State Park, which is located about 60 miles southwest of St. Louis, near the town of Sullivan. Wilson's daughter, Amie May, has told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that her mother had acquired secondary infections, including pneumonia. She also had been treated for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma since 2012.

The CDC is encouraging park goers to wear long sleeves, avoid high grass and use insect repellent.